


chrysalis

by screechfox



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Ending, Body Horror, Butterflies, Corruption!Martin Blackwood, Gen, Season/Series 01, your standard flesh hive business
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21908248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screechfox/pseuds/screechfox
Summary: There’s a cloud of colour in the Archives, shifting and moving like one living beast. It all gleams in a hundred different shades, and Jon thinks it would be beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying. Martin stands at the heart of it all, swaying in time with each beat of wings.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood & Jonathan Sims
Comments: 18
Kudos: 131
Collections: Rusty Quill Secret Santa 2019





	chrysalis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [certifieddyke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/certifieddyke/gifts).



There’s a cloud of colour in the Archives, shifting and moving like one living beast. It all gleams in a hundred different shades, and Jon thinks it would be beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying.  Martin stands at the heart of it all, swaying in time with each beat of wings.

“Martin?” The name leaves Jon’s mouth before he can think better of it, an urgent rush of horrified concern that betrays his already-fracturing composure.

The swarm ripples, and Martin turns to face him. 

“I thought they were worms,” Martin remarks, and it would be almost conversational if it weren’t for the butterfly perched on the hole in the centre of his throat. “But I guess not, right?”

“Right,” Jon echoes, and Martin smiles. 

“Oh, Jon.” There’s a strange echo to Martin’s voice, butterflies dancing around him as he speaks. “You’ve always tried to push us away. It used to annoy me so much, like you thought you were better than us — well, I guess you always thought you were better than  _ me.” _

“No, I—”

“I see it now, though,” Martin continues, and it cuts off any rejoinder Jon could have come up with. Martin sounds so awed, as though everything is right with the world. “You were just scared. Scared of connection, scared of being a part of something bigger than yourself.”

There are butterflies landing on Jon’s skin, awful in their delicacy. For each one he brushes away, sending it falling to the floor with crumpled wings, two more land in its place.

He should run while he still can, but he can’t bring himself to reach for the doorknob behind him.

“I was scared too. So lonely. But now I’m appreciated, Jon. They need me, and I need them.”

“Was it Prentiss?” Jon manages to ask, desperately grabbing for a few more seconds of life. When did Martin die? How did Jon not notice? He needs to know.

Martin’s expression darkens.

“She’s gone now,” he says, as much an answer as anything. “It’s just us.” He waves his arms in an expansive gesture, and the butterflies shift and swirl around him. “Just us.”

He takes a step closer. This close, his skin looks papery, like a chrysalis crafted for something underneath. He isn’t breathing.

“You can be a part of us too, Jon. Just let it happen.”

There’s a wave of pinprick pain across every patch of Jon’s bare skin. Dimly, Jon remembers reading about venomous butterflies as a child — or were they poisonous? Everything is turning blurred. He wavers on his feet and Martin catches him far too easily.

“Tim?” Jon manages, tongue heavy in his mouth. “Sasha?”

“We’ll all be together,” Martin says with the solemn air of a vow. Martin’s always been the type to keep his promises, Jon thinks dimly. Then the wing-beat song of the swarm starts to weave its way across his thoughts, and one way or another, he’s gone.

**Author's Note:**

> so i diverged from the prompt a little bit, and i'm especially sorry that jane didn't actually appear, but... butterfly hive martin... i don't know if butterflies swarm or live in colonies, and nor do i care. hope you enjoyed anyway!


End file.
